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Friday, July 27, 2012

harlie Miller created tools that forced phones to visit websites seeded with attack software.
The software on the booby-trapped websites helped Mr Miller look at and steal data held on a handset.
NFC is becoming increasingly common in smartphones as the gadgets are used as electronic tickets and digital wallets. Beam guide
Mr Miller, a research consultant at security firm Accuvant,
demonstrated the work at the Black Hat hacker conference in Las Vegas.
During his presentation, Mr Miller showed how to attack three
separate phones - the Samsung Nexus S, the Google Galaxy Nexus and the
Nokia N9.
To attack the phones Mr Miller wrote software to control a
reader tag that works in conjunction with NFC. As its name implies, NFC
works when devices are brought close together or are placed near a
reader chip.
In one demo Mr Miller piped commands through his custom-built
chip that abused a feature of the smartphones known as Android beam.
This allows phone owners to send links and information over short
distances to other handsets.
He discovered that the default setting in Android Beam forces
a handset to visit any weblink or open any file sent to it. Via this
route he forced handsets to visit websites that ran code written to
exploit known vulnerabilities in Android.
"The fact that, without you doing anything, all of a sudden your browser is going to my website, is not ideal," Mr Miller told tech news website Ars Technica.
In one demonstration using this attack Mr Miller was able to view files on a target handset.
On the Nokia phone, Mr Miller demonstrated how to abuse NFC
and take complete control of a target handset, making it send texts or
make calls, via the weaknesses exploited by his customised radio tag.
Mr Miller said that to successfully attack phones they must
be running a particular version of the Android operating system, be
unlocked and have their screen active.
Nokia said it was aware of Mr Miller's research and said it
was "actively investigating" his claims of success against its N9 phone.
It said it was not aware of anyone else abusing loopholes in Android
via NFC.

According to the Guardian,
Google "seriously underestimated" demand for the tablet, particularly
the variant with 16GB of storage. You can still order the 8GB version
from Google Play, but retail stocks have been disappearing quickly and
the 16GB device isn't being sold via the Play store.
Among the new Nexus 7 users apparently happy with their purchase is Linus Torvalds, who seems to really like the Google tablet. You can tell, because when Linus doesn't like something, he lets you know.
Jelly Bean version news: There's a rumor
that 4.1 updates for the Samsung Galaxy S II and S III are in the final
stages of testing and will be deployed by early September. That sounds
plausible, though it's not confirmed.
In related Galaxy S III news, Samsung decided to preemptively ditch the local search feature that was at the heart of a recent patent case for international models of the device. Better safe than sorry, apparently.
Motorola Xoom users - relax. After a delay caused by soak testing problems, Wi-Fi Xooms are apparently getting the Jelly Bean update. Verizon users, of course, will have to wait a while longer.
Speaking of which - Verizon Galaxy Nexus users could be forgiven
for being a little psyched out earlier this week, as finally - finally! -
there's the little "software update" notification. Unfortunately, this
turned out not to be the long-awaited upgrade to Android 4.1,
and was instead an incremental update for Ice Cream Sandwich. We kind
of wish the update had taken a snapshot when opened, so that we could
make a photo collage of disappointed Verizon GNex users.
Still, even those folks are likely to get an update before Nexus S 4G users, according to GottaBeMobile. While other versions of the Nexus S got the Jelly Bean treatment
recently, there's been total silence on plans to upgrade Sprint's
version of the phone. As ever, of course, you can just install an
unofficial Jelly Bean ROM if you're reasonably technical and willing to
void your warranty.
If you're a devotee of the hardware keyboard, you might be
feeling a little bit left out by the Android ecosystem of late, given
the lack of flagship releases with that feature. However, Android Central
says that Sprint is planning to roll out the Motorola Photon Q "very
soon." According to that site, it'll have what looks like a slide-out
QWERTY keyboard of the same style as the old Moto Droid, as well as 4G
LTE connectivity and GSM world phone functionality outside the U.S.
Some numbers: Bad news for Android in the enterprise - an Appcelerator/IDC study
found that business developer interest in iOS is now far ahead of
Android, despite the two being neck-and-neck as recently as the third
quarter of 2011. (Hat-tip: Boy Genius Report)
What's more, despite Android device activations among enterprise
customers doubling since the previous quarter, Good Technology's second
quarter 2012 report on business mobile use still shows iOS way out in front. (Hat-tip: InformationWeek)
From the oh-God-here-we-go-again department: Bloomberg has the latest
on the interminably rumored Facebook phone. Apparently, The Social
Network is working with HTC on a device to be released in early 2013,
which will include a modified operating system.
Rumors about a Facebook phone
have been breathlessly passed around since 2010, and it does seem like
Zuckerberg and the gang want to make this happen. That said, almost
nothing is definitively known about the project, and frankly, we'd
prefer they focus on making the official Android app less crappy.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

According to market analysis company Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, Google's
mobile operating system, Android, now accounts for more than 50 per
cent of the market in the Australia, the US, and many of the largest
countries in Europe.

In the UK, for example, Android marketshare
has risen by 8.5 per cent to 57.2 per cent since a similar 12-week poll
that was carried out by the company in July of 2011.

Apple's iOS
has also seen a small 5.4 per cent rise in the UK to 25.6 per cent
marketshare, with Windows Phone 7 now accounting for 3.7 per cent of the
pie - a 2.7 per cent rise. BlackBerry, on the other hand, has fallen
from 19.3 per cent marketshare to just 10.6 per cent.

Other platforms such as Symbian, bada, and Windows Mobile are next to non-existent.

Day trip

Spain,
Germany, Italy, and France all boast similar results, although iOS
isn't as popular as it was last year. For instance, in Spain, iOS only
has 3.2 per cent share of the market, which is less than even Symbian.
Android is king with 84.1 per cent marketshare.

In the US,
however, it's not such good news for Android: Google's operating system
has dipped by 7.2 per cent to around 50.2 percent marketshare. Apple's
iOS has risen by 8.7 per cent to 37.4 per cent marketshare, whereas
BlackBerry now accounts for just three per cent of the market. Ouch.

Finally,
down in Australia, iOS has dropped to 30.5 per cent of the market and
Android has risen to 56.9 per cent marketshare, with Windows Phone 7's
4.8 per cent share of the pie bringing up the rear.

It’s not a secret that gamers are pining for new hardware. Whether
that’s next-gen consoles or new handhelds, it doesn’t really matter,
they just want something new to play games on. That seems to be where
the fervor directed at Ouya comes into play.
Our own Jared Newman wrote about the console's unveiling
and what you need to know already, but I find the whole concept of a
new, Android-powered home console extremely interesting. Android isn’t
what I would immediately think of if someone asked what operating system
a low-cost home console should run on.
There’s a few reasons, but the biggest is the state of games on
Android platforms. Take a minute to search through Google Play (formerly
known as Android Market) and find some of the few games that have
actually been optimized for Android tablets; there aren’t many. Now take
that number, compared to the overall number of games available for
Android, and try to estimate how many of those will be optimized for
play on a television. Maybe a few dozen, at most?
Thousands of people are investing in a system that will be able to
play a few dozen games at launch. That isn’t much. Sure, it’s all about
investing in the future. Developers might start to optimize their titles
once they realize that there’s a market for them, but that takes time.
Unless developers can get their hands on final Ouya hardware a few
months ahead of time, they won’t be ready for launch (The Ouya Kickstarter does claim that some developers will receive Ouya dev kits before the console launches -- Ed.).
The Android OS is known for being very picky about the specific type of
hardware that the user has. An application might work perfectly on one
phone, but not at all on another, simply because of the onboard video
card. That’s the first challenge that users are going to have to face,
but there’s plenty of challenges ahead for developers as well.
One of the biggest issues with Android is piracy. The whole appeal of
Ouya is that it’s open-source, the console manufacturer doesn’t decide
what is allowed on the console and what isn’t. That also means that they
don’t really decide how things go on the console. Any Android
application is available illegally by simply searching for the name of
the application and file type and I see that being the case for games
released on Ouya as well. According the manufacturer, the console will
have a USB port for expanded storage, and that could very well be used
for this nefarious purpose.

One
of the main features of Ouya is that some part of the game has to be
free-to-play. Developers can charge for titles, but they have to offer
some kind of demo or trial. It’s a good model, because most gamers want
to be able to try something out before they put down their money. This
is something that PlayStation has done a great job with; they offer
60-demos of most of their titles to PlayStation Plus users, and I’m
hoping that we see something similar here. Even with this caveat, there
are still full versions of games and with Ouya’s open-source nature, you
can bet that someone will find a way to crack and distribute them. It’s
something that developers are going to have to consider before putting
in the effort and development time to optimize their titles for Ouya.
We really have no idea what Ouya could do. It’s an extremely novel
concept and the Kickstarter video sold me on the UI (something that I
always find troubling with Android), but there’s still so much that’s
unknown. We don’t even know what the left side of the controller looks
like! We can only hope that they reveal more information as the
Kickstarter campaign continues. At the time of writing, they’ve raised
over $3.2 million dollars and it has been less than 48 hours. That says
something about what gamers are looking for.

I have both an HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus (I use it with my T-Mobile and AT&T accounts) and a Verizon CDMA Nexus. As Google announced yesterday, the Jelly Bean
(Android 4.1) update is now rolling out to HSPA+ devices. I installed a
custom ROM last week and have been using Jelly Bean for a few days so
wanted to share some experiences. I thought Ice Cream Sandwich was
excellent and what we always wanted from Android and now Jelly Bean
greatly improves on that experience. The primary improvements for me
include Google Now,
enhanced notifications, and a smoother user interface. You can check out
many screenshots of Jelly Bean on my Galaxy Nexus in my image gallery. The Verge has an excellent detailed review of Jelly Bean that you should check out too.Check out my full screenshot gallery of Jelly Bean

Google Now

Google Now is a
slick new feature that appears to be the ultimate compilation of Google
Search personalized for you. Simply swipe up from below the screen to
have Google Now appear. The upper section shows a cool image that
changes to reflect your location and time of day with a search box to
enter text or voice commands. Below this is where your Google Now cards
will appear dynamically. As you can see below the Google Now cards are
great for the business person who commutes, goes out to lunch, meets
with clients, and travels. There are no real media or social networking
features, but primarily personal assistant tools to help you be more
efficient and have your smartphone take care of gathering data for your
in a smart manner.
The voice search lets you perform the following types of searches and actions:

Set reminders (one major reason I used Siri)

Send a text message

Check weather in different locations

Perform calculations

Perform a barrel roll (try it, it's fun)

Check out sports scores and upcoming game times

Get directions

I found the voice search to be fairly picky in regards to how you
phrase your question too. If done "properly" you will get the results
you expect, but if you don't ask how Google wants you too then you may
end up with simple web search results. Unlike S Voice on the Galaxy S
III, you cannot perform device functions such as toggling wireless
radios with Google Now at this time. Check out this video showing a
great selection of questions asked using the Google Now voice search
utility.

I found it to be much better than S Voice on the Galaxy S III and any
other Android voice control program. I would even argue that it is
better than Siri on iOS. You can perform some things without an internet
connection too, including composition of emails and text messages
(voice dictation tasks). Anything requiring a search obviously requires
some kind of connection.
The Google Now cards change depending on the time of day, searches
you have performed, and settings that you customize. There are cards for
the following:

Traffic: Get traffic conditions and alternate routes before you leave for work.

Public transit: Find when the next bus or train departs.

Next appointment: See what is coming up and also find out how long it will take given the current traffic conditions.

Flights: Keep track of your upcoming flight status.

Sports: Keep updated on your local sports teams and even pick up tickets if you want to watch it live.

Places: Quickly find a place for lunch or check out local places of interest.

Weather: Know what the day is going to be like before you leave the house.

Translation: Handy for when you are traveling outside the country or down to California.

Currency: Check local conversion rates instead of relying on the local vendor.

Time at home: Travelers will appreciate knowing local and home time when traveling.

There are settings for each Google Now card and you can check them out in my image gallery.
Be patient when you first start using Google Now as it takes some time
for Google to collect the data needed to have it working best for you.

Enhanced notifications

Notifications have always been a distinguishing feature in Android
and Jelly Bean helps them get even better. They look better with more
use of white and the Roboto fonts rather than so much Tron blue. Some
notifications also now appear two blocks high, photos for example, so
you can see more relavent information in the notification. You can also
now perform some actions right from the notifications, such as tap to
share a photo, snooze an alarm, make a quick call back, and more. You
can clear all notifications by tapping the new three bar step icon in
the upper right.
You also now have app level control of notifications so if you go to
your app settings and app info page you can toggle the Show
notifications option. The easiest way to get to this app info from a
notification is to simply press and hold on it to see an App Info link
appear.

NFC to Bluetooth pairing support

I recently reviewed the Nokia Play 360 speakers
and followed up by purchasing my own white set of speakers. Jelly Bean
supports NFC tap to pair to Bluetooth so just like my Nokia N9 I simply
tapped my Galaxy Nexus to my speakers to setup the Bluetooth connection
and connect. I know it is not a huge deal, but it is much more
convenient than enabling the Bluetooth radio, setting up the pairing,
and then connecting through menus.

Other Jelly Bean improvements

There are several more improvements in Jelly Bean. Some are listed
below and if you can think of others feel free to let me know in the
comments.

Smooth as butter: Google had an initiative called Project Butter
that was used to make Android more responsive, including optimizing
touches on the display. You can immediately tell everything seems just a
bit smoother when you use Jelly Bean.

Keyboard love: I use SwiftKey for my keyboard, but Google improved
the native one and uses a text prediction algorithm like SwiftKey in
their new keyboard. There are also some advanced settings options in the
keyboard.

Offline maps: You have been able to get a small portion of your maps
offline in Google Maps for some time, but now you can get more of the
area downloaded to your life. However, this area still needs a lot of
work and if you want to get full navigation without a connection you
should still stick with some excellent 3rd party navigation solutions or
use Nokia Maps on another device.

Homescreen update: Widgets will now automatically move icons around,
similar to what you see on iOS so you shouldn't get that annoying error
message that there is no room for the widget as much as before.

Where and when can you get Jelly Bean?

As I started off saying, the HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus Jelly Bean update is
rolling out now. There is no word on when the Verizon or Sprint CDMA
version will appear as it first goes through carrier testing. You can
purchase an HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus for just $349 with no contract and then
use it on AT&T and T-Mobile in the US or around the world on GSM
carriers. You can also order a Nexus 7 tablet that comes with Jelly
Bean. I have mine pre-ordered and look forward to testing it out.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Google’s recent unveiling of its latest and greatest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS seems destined to not only skyrocket the Nexus 7 tablet to fame, but also breathe new life into an array of existing high-end Android Smartphones.
Likely to be the first of countless devices to receive a well-deserved
facelift, Google is once again showcasing the Samsung Galaxy Nexus for
sale in its own Play Store, with a tempting serving of 4.1 Jelly Bean to
boot.
In fact, Samsung has dodged quite
the proverbial bullet to say the least as the inclusion of Android 4.1
Jelly Bean is exactly what has allowed the company to sidestep a
temporary restriction put on sales of the Galaxy Nexus

For those who may have somehow missed out on the hype so far, Google
unveiled Android 4.1 Jelly Bean at is I/O conference a couple of week
ago, delivering the full inside scoop though falling short
of an exact release date. Among an array of new features and tweaks
afforded to version 4.1 is what has been dubbed the Siri-killing Google
Now, which according to early test puts its Apple cousin to shame in
terms of overall accuracy.
Of course, no Android 4.1 Jelly Bean release date also meant no
information as to existing product update rollouts, though the wheels
appear to have been set in motion and the future looks promising for Samsung devotees.
With preorders already in high gear, the official Google Nexus tablet release date is expected to come about during the mid-stages of this month
and bring Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to the masses for the very first time.
With an incredible spec-sheet, a price tag of just $199 and the
bragging-rights that come with temporary Jelly Bean exclusivity, chances
are the Nexus 7 will take quite the bite from a market traditionally dominated by Apple’s iPad.

Google announced on Monday that the company was releasing Android 4.1
Jelly Bean to the open source community, a step that usually indicates
the company is getting close to officially shipping the next major
release of the mobile operating system. Jean-Baptiste Queru, technical
lead for the open source side of Android, made the announcement on the company’s developer forums.

Google
officially announced Jelly Bean at the company’s I/O developer
conference in June. This version of Android is aimed at both tablets and
smartphones, and it was the featured OS for Google’s new Nexus 7 tablet that was also unveiled at the conference.
To
that end, Mr. Queru noted that, “Proprietary binaries are available for
Nexus 7 and Galaxy Nexus. Nexus S and Xoom will follow.”
Jelly Bean will be an important release for Google as the company works to make a dent in the world of tablets with the Nexus 7.
Jelly Bean could also bring Android’s voice command infrastructure up
to par with Apple’s Siri. As such, it’s the first version of Android
that The Mac Observer considers all that interesting—you’re mileage will
certainly vary.

So here's what's wrong with Android. Right now the tech world is talking about Android 4.1 Jelly Bean,
which brings a smoother interface, better responsiveness, and the
potentially radical Google Now search function to the world's top
smartphone platform. But as of July 10, AT&T is beginning to push Android 4.0 out to its popular Samsung Galaxy Note phablet.

That said, you shouldn't look a free software update in
the opcodes. Many Android phones are still stuck on version 2.3 or
earlier, so Samsung deserves some kudos for making it this far. Android
4.0 is a distinct update to the Galaxy Note's earlier Android 2.3, with
better handling of multitasking and access to the superior Chrome
browser. Those two features alone make the upgrade worth the time to
install, but Samsung has also added in some entertaining frills.

Touchwizzing All Over The Place
Android 4.0 on the Galaxy Note doesn't look anything like stock Android
4.0, with its minimalist black backgrounds. In fact, you'll be
hard-pressed to tell the difference between the UI here and the earlier
Android 2.3 UI. Samsung's TouchWiz overlay is so heavy and complete,
touching every major app, that there's little new in many of the core
apps.

Hold down the Home button, though, and you get a scrolling
list of thumbnails of running apps - that's a new Ice Cream Sandwich
feature. The new software also supports NFC (but not Google Wallet) and Google's gimmicky face-unlock feature.

Web-browsing performance has really improved, too. The
Antutu and Nenamark system and graphics benchmarks didn't show any
change, but the Android 4.0 browser shows dramatically better results on
the Browsermark browser benchmark, jumping from 48260 under Android 2.3
to 67380 under Android 4.0. That's still far short of the fastest
scores we've seen, though, because the Galaxy Note's 1.5-GHz Qualcomm S3
processor isn't as powerful as the Qualcomm S4 we're seeing in leading
devices like the Samsung Galaxy S III.

Android 4.0 also gives you access to the Chrome browser,
which I consider a killer app for Ice Cream Sandwich; it's fast and
smooth and clean and you'll never go back. Chrome hit a 71702 on
Browsermark, and its tab management is much quicker than the standard
Android browser.

Some owners of foreign Galaxy Notes have complained about
stability issues after their updates, but I didn't run into any such
issues after running a range of apps on our unit.

Samsung also brought a few new apps along to showcase its
pressure-sensitive, Wacom-powered S Pen technology. S Note is a
note-taking app with various templates and a neat trick of solving
mathematical formulas using Wolfram Alpha. My Story lets you create and
send little handwritten cards made up of a collage of images and ink.

Thanks to a tweet from Samsung spokesman Phil Berne, I
also discovered the new software supports Share Shot, a camera mode that
automatically shares out your photos to nearby friends via Wi-Fi
Direct.

I didn't see any responsiveness problems in Samsung's own
apps, but Autodesk Sketchbook Pro sometimes wouldn't recognize light pen
touches. That's disappointing, and it's also something Google
specifically said it was addressing in Jelly Bean.

It's Not Just Jelly Bean
Samsung won't commit to bringing Jelly Bean to the Galaxy Note yet.
"Samsung will soon announce which additional devices are eligible for
the Jelly Bean update," the company told me in an email. But my
disappointment here doesn't just have to do with Jelly Bean.

Android 4.0 on the Galaxy Note now lacks important Samsung-specific features, too - the features that came with the new Galaxy S III.
The S Voice personal assistant, S Beam file transfer, and more camera
features all set Samsung's new flagship phone apart, but they aren't
coming to the Galaxy Note with this update.

This leaves the Galaxy Note in an odd position. Already, rumors are whizzing around the Internet about a "Galaxy Note II"
coming out in August with a newer processor and the Galaxy S III
software extensions. Will that one have Jelly Bean? That's anyone's
guess.

The new software doesn't change the Galaxy Note's basic
value proposition, though. This is still the handheld for people who
want to play games, watch videos, or read text without squinting at a
tiny screen, who don't make a lot of voice calls and do spend a lot of
time tapping at their devices. Right now, it's unique in the market. The
Android 4.0 upgrade is a nice perk, but it doesn't change the game
here.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Reports emerged this week about a spam-producing Android botnet, but is this really an Android problem?
As outlined by PCMag's Security Watch,
researchers from Microsoft and Sophos on Wednesday said they had found
the first instance of an Android botnet. The spam messages included the
signature, "Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android," prompting Microsoft
researcher Terry Zink to conclude that "a spammer has control of a botnet that lives on Android devices."
Sophos chimed in, with analyst Chester Wisniewski arguing that it is "likely that Android users are downloading Trojanized pirated copies of paid Android applications."
Later that day, however, Lookout Security said "a more plausible explanation for this behavior appears to be insecure Android applications."
Lookout said the information provided by Microsoft and Sophos was not
enough to "definitively identify" the cause of the spam because the
data is "easily replicable."
"After taking a detailed look at the app, we've found a number of
issues that have potentially broader implications for all Android users
of Yahoo! Mail," Lookout continued. "In the interest of responsible
disclosure, we cannot at this time provide details around such
vulnerabilities."
Microsoft's Zink and Sophos's Wisniewski have since published follow-up posts. Zink conceded
that it's "entirely possible" that a bot on a compromised PC connected
to Yahoo Mail inserted the Android tagline in an effort to dupe people
into thinking it came from Android devices.
"On the other hand, the other possibility is that Android malware has
become much more prevalent and because of its ubiquity, there is
sufficient motivation for spammers to abuse the platform. The reason
these messages appear to come from Android devices is because they did
come from Android devices," he said.
Zink said he considered both options before publishing his data and "selected the latter."
In his own post,
Wisniewski said he "didn't make it clear that we do not have a malware
sample that does this, simply evidence that strongly suggests it is
happening."
Wisniewski said he has "no evidence" of message forgery. "The
messages are delivered to our spam traps from genuine Yahoo! servers
with valid DKIM signatures," he wrote.
Wisniewski conceded that "we don't know the answer right now," but
said "the evidence suggests it is Android malware and there isn't a good
reason to think that pretending it is from Yahoo! via Android devices
is of any benefit to the spammers."

It's hard to underestimate the value of brand loyalty. Just ask Verizon Wireless. It's with satisfied Incredible and Incredible 2 owners in mind that the carrier is promoting the Droid Incredible 4G LTE, a 4-inch, $149 device that -- as you may have guessed -- rides along VZW's fast LTE network.

Interestingly, the Incredible 4G LTE is landing at a time when many consumers might have preferred, say, the HTC One X.
In fact, though, Verizon's decision to instead update the Incredible
(also made by HTC) introduces a rather enviable proposition to Verizon
customers. Remember that in a short matter of time, the Samsung Galaxy S III
will soon make its debut at Verizon, at which point, it's expected to
become the network's premiere smartphone. Still, its large size will
deter many shoppers, and when viewed through this lens, the Droid
Incredible 4G LTE begins to make sense. Put simply, it's a compact
handset that stands as the antithesis to the assumption that size equals
power. While the handset doesn't quite approach the capabilities or
elegance of the One X (or the One S,
for that matter), the latest Incredible is a worthy successor and
deserves consideration as your next smartphone -- regardless of your
current provider. Read on to learn why.

Go ahead and raise your hand if you were surprised that the Rezound
wasn't christened as part of the Incredible lineup. Given the cosmetic
similarities, you'd be forgiven. Perhaps it was the phone's larger
4.3-inch display that ultimately dictated its fate, but Incredible fans
will be pleased to know that the industrial design of the Droid
Incredible 4G LTE is remarkably similar to its forebears. The phone
maintains roughly the same dimensions and weight as the previous
iterations, and features bold, beveled lines around back. Purists will
appreciate that the original Incredible's red accents have returned,
which are evident on the front speaker grille, the power button and
camera pod.
Thankfully, the latest Incredible is remarkably more
comfortable to hold -- especially in comparison to the first generation
-- as the beveled edges now flow into gentle curves along the side that
allow the phone to fit naturally in one's palm. The soft-touch rear
cover has also gained a nice textured finish, which adds to the overall
visual appeal and makes the handset easier to grip. HTC has also updated
the capacitive navigation buttons, which now fall in line with the
scheme of the One lineup.

While the external changes to the Droid Incredible 4G LTE are rather
modest, the real story lurks within -- and it's a thriller. Based on the
Snapdragon S4 from Qualcomm, the phone sports a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU
and an Adreno 225 GPU. We'll discuss performance details a bit later,
but quite simply, the phone offers a lot of power in a little package
and feels every bit as snappy as the dual-core One X and Galaxy S III.
It's very impressive.
Naturally, a smartphone is only as good as
its display, and the Droid Incredible 4G LTE doesn't disappoint. While
some may be put off by its smallish size, just as many will view the
4-inch screen as the phone's most compelling feature. Like the HTC One
S, the Incredible offers a qHD (960 x 540) display, and while the
resolution isn't exactly cutting edge, it's a great fit for a screen of
this size. The end result is a pixel density of 275ppi, which is
slightly better than the One S. Thanks to the S-LCD screen, text is very
sharp and crisp, viewing angles are admirable and color reproduction is
solid. The display is also reasonably usable in direct sunlight. Only
in comparison to the S-LCD 2 screen of the One X does the new Incredible
appear to be anything less than excellent.

Sadly, you won't find anything like the Infinity screen on the One X
and One S, which gently drapes over the phone's edge. Here, your fingers
will rub against the phone's frame. While the Droid Incredible 4G LTE
is a solidly built phone, small touches like this reinforce the
impression that it doesn't reach the fantastic engineering heights of
the One lineup. That said, the design is also more functional, as the
device offers an accessible 1,700mAh battery and removable microSD
storage. Users will need to handle the rear cover gently, however, which
includes a built-in NFC antenna along with raised contact points that
appear somewhat fragile. While the stock rear cover doesn't support
inductive charging, the phone contains the necessary contact points. FCC
documentation also hints at the functionality. So, perhaps we'll see
HTC introduce a separate cover to make inductive charging possible.
In terms of amenities, you'll find the power button, 3.5mm headphone
jack and a secondary microphone up top (which allows users to record
sound in stereo), a volume rocker on the right-hand side, the primary
microphone on the bottom and an MHL-capable micro-USB port situated on
the left-hand side. There's also a handy charging / notification light,
which is hidden just above the Verizon logo on the face of the phone.
Positioned to the right of the camera pod on the rear is a speakerphone.

HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE

Pricing

$199 on-contract before $50 mail-in rebate

Dimensions

4.8 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches (122 x 61 x 11.7mm)

Weight

4.66 oz. (132g)

Screen size

4.0 inches (102mm)

Screen resolution

960 x 540 pixels (275ppi)

Screen type

Super LCD display

Battery

1,700mAh

Internal storage

8GB (5.21GB available)

External storage

MicroSD, none included

Rear camera

8MP, AF, LED flash

Front-facing cam

VGA

Video capture

1080p

NFC

Yes

Radios

CDMA 800 / 1900MHz; LTE 700MHz

Bluetooth

v4.0

SoC

Qualcomm MSM8960 (Snapdragon S4)

CPU

1.2GHz dual-core Krait

GPU

Adreno 225

RAM

1GB

MHL

Yes

WiFi

2.4GHz: 802.11b/g/n; 5.0GHz 802.11a/n

Operating system

Android 4.0.3

Performance and battery life

Don't be fooled by the small size of the Droid Incredible 4G LTE,
because this one runs with the big dogs. Like the US variants of the One
X and Galaxy S III, the phone includes a wicked fast Snapdragon S4 from
Qualcomm. Granted, the dual-core CPU within the latest Incredible runs
at 1.2GHz -- compared to 1.5GHz in its larger brethren -- but it
contains the same Adreno 225 GPU and real-world performance is
comparable.
Benchmark tests reveal a similar story. For example,
within Quadrant, the new Incredible's slower CPU is evident, but it also
boasts significantly faster memory that helps it best even the mighty Transformer Prime
tablet. In Vellamo, the Droid Incredible 4G LTE outperformed the
quad-core HTC One X -- which features NVIDIA Tegra 3 internals -- and
fell just behind the dual-core One X and Galaxy S III.

HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE

HTC One X (AT&T)

Samsung Galaxy S III (AT&T)

Quadrant

4,247

4,784

5,084

Vellamo

2,045

2,259

2,153

AnTuTu

6,001

6,956

6,713

SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms)

1,871

1,453

1,926

GLBenchmark Egypt Offscreen (fps)

56

56

54

CF-Bench

7,778

9,479

9,439

SunSpider: lower scores are better.

As we've alluded to, the real-world performance of the latest
Incredible is buttery smooth: boot times are quick, apps are summoned
without hesitation and the web browser is utterly fluid. Put simply,
it's a joy to use.
The story with Verizon LTE is generally
consistent and two-fold: excellent data speeds and miserable battery
life. While we never experienced the insanely fast speeds that many have
come to expect (performance averaged 13Mbps down and 6Mbps up) the
latest Incredible offers battery life that's a refreshing departure from
the norm. In our standard rundown test, the Droid Incredible 4G LTE
eked out a solid seven hours and 15 minutes of runtime, which matches
the excellent longevity of the Droid 4.
Similarly, the phone managed to get 52 hours of uptime from a single
charge with moderate use. While the Incredible's battery life doesn't
approach the high mark set by the Droid RAZR Maxx, it offers a respite from the constant search for power outlets. And at the end of the day, that's all that really matters.

The Droid Incredible 4G LTE is a remarkably solid performer as a phone.
While it doesn't quite approach landline quality, it's easily one of
the better experiences we've had with a mobile device in quite some
time. In all cases, voices were remarkably clear -- even at low volume
-- and we were able to carry on a natural conversation without straining
to hear the caller or struggling to properly position the earpiece.
Similarly, others commented on the clarity and depth of our voice.
With respect to navigation, we're happy to say that the latest
Incredible was able to detect GPS satellites nearly instantaneously.

Software

If you're familiar with Sense 4, the Droid Incredible 4G LTE offers
very few surprises. The skin was developed by HTC independent of
Google's work with Android 4.0, and while it remains a significant
departure from Ice Cream Sandwich, the overall experience is attractive,
intuitive and responsive. For the purposes of this review, we'll focus
on the software that's specific to the latest Incredible, but if you're
unfamiliar with Sense 4, be sure to check out our full review of HTC's latest skin.

Upon first boot, you'll be greeted by a setup wizard that prompts
first-timers to select their default language, configure Verizon's
Backup Assistant Plus service (a freemium offering, which can be
skipped), setup various email accounts and enable their Google account.
As you'll see, the setup wizard also beats users over the head with the
fact that their phone can be used to track location. Indeed, in the next
step you'll be asked to configure which location services -- Verizon,
GPS and Google -- to enable. Lastly, users are given the option to view
basic tutorial videos. Once that's out of the way, you'll be delivered
to the home screen, where the default wallpaper is quick to remind users
that this is, indeed, a Droid. As you'd hope, you can easily switch to
HTC's own themes, but by default, it's all rather heavy-handed with
Verizon's own brand. The phone even goes so far as to play the familiar
"Droid" sound with each new message. It's a not-so-subtle way of turning
users into walking advertisements.
Fortunately, Verizon
exercised restraint with its bundled apps. That's not to suggest that
the phone is pristine, however, as you'll discover a few applications
that essentially amount to advertisements. These include two games, Let's Golf 3 HD and Real Racing 2,
along with Amazon Kindle, Amazon MP3, Slacker Radio and Slingbox. With
respect to the games, these are merely shell apps that weigh in at less
than 1MB and immediately prompt users to download approximately 600MB
worth of data. As a bit of an insult, both games are merely playable
demos, so it's hard to argue that they add any value to the phone.
Slingbox is a similar story, as the included "app" merely prompts users
to sign up for the paid service and download the software.

With respect to Verizon's own software, you'll find My Verizon Mobile
for quick account access, NFL Mobile, V Cast Tones (for those who still
pay for ringtones), Verizon Video, visual Voicemail -- a $1.99/month
service -- and VZ Navigator. There's also a Mobile Hotspot app, which
more or less exists for those who can't find the toggle within the
settings menu. Those who need to keep close tabs on their data usage
will also find a small widget from Verizon for this purpose, which links
to the My Verizon app.
None of the bundled apps can be
uninstalled, but HTC's software allows users to selectively disable
unwanted titles, which keeps them out of the launcher. In this sense,
it's rather unoffensive as each application's footprint is so small, but
several of the apps are annoyances just the same.

Camera

We've good news and bad news to share with respect to the camera in the
Droid Incredible 4G LTE. First, the bad: this phone's camera isn't the
same as you'll find on the One X and One S. It's inferior. On the
upside, however, the camera is still quite excellent in its own right.
While the One X features an f/2.0 lens, you'll find an f/2.2, 28mm setup
here. Both 8-megapixel cameras contain backside illuminated sensors and
are rather comparable with respect to daylight and indoor photography,
but the One X is noticeably better when it comes to low-light scenes.

All told, the camera captures an impressive amount of detail with
admirable color reproduction and delivers fantastic results at the press
of a button. Most users will be rightfully thrilled by this camera, and
our only nitpick is an excessive amount of sharpness that's discernible
when images are viewed at full size.
The greatest differentiator
between the camera of the Droid Incredible 4G LTE and the One lineup is
the exclusion of HTC's ImageSense processor. While you'll find roughly
the same set of software features, the real magic of HTC's imaging
capabilities happen on the processing level, and it's absent on the
latest Incredible. Not only does ImageSense affect overall image
quality, but it has a bearing on the camera's real-world functionality
as well. For example, while the Droid Incredible 4G LTE can capture
roughly three images per second, the HTC One series can process twice
this in the same amount of time -- all thanks to its hardware. In terms
of software, you'll find the same set of shooting modes, which include
the ability to capture HDR imagery, gyroscope-assisted panoramas,
close-up and low light scenes, along with landscape, portrait and a few
others. You'll also find the ability to apply Instagram-like filters to
images, along with basic crop and rotation tools.

The Droid Incredible 4G LTE once again impresses with its 1080p video
capture, which records at a smooth 30fps with stereo sound. We would
like to see more refinement with respect to the image stabilization
feature, however, and while the auto-focus during recording is a nice
feature, you'll likely need to tap-to-focus during the clip in
situations where you transition between close-up and distant subjects.
Like with the One X and One S, you'll find the ability to easily capture
widescreen (3,264 x 1,840) images while recording 1080p video.

Wrap-up

At first blush, it's easy to say that Verizon made a crucial misstep by
excluding the One X from its lineup. While it's difficult to quickly
dismiss that claim, the Galaxy S III will no doubt satisfy a large
number of customers in search of a large and powerful smartphone. And
besides, the Droid Incredible 4G LTE is a strong addition to Verizon's
lineup, as it offers nearly all of the power and functionality of a
premiere Android superphone, except in a smaller form factor.
As
is, the purchasing decision for Verizon customers is now clear and
distinct: those who want a best-of-breed smartphone with a large display
should choose the Galaxy S III,
while those who want nearly the same level of performance within a
smaller enclosure should choose the Droid Incredible 4G LTE. Naturally,
the Galaxy Nexus remains a solid option for those who insist upon stock Android above all other considerations, and the Droid RAZR Maxx is a competent performer for those who demand maximum battery life.
While the One X would still be a welcome addition at Verizon Wireless,
the carrier now has an incredibly strong portfolio of Android
smartphones that cater to a wide variety of desires. If you're currently
on the hunt for a compact smartphone that offers world-class
performance, you've reached your destination.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Microsoft engineer Terry Zink has discovered Android devices are
being used to send spam. He has identified an international
Android botnet and outlined the details on his MSDN blog.
Android malware is on the rise.
There have been many fake versions of Android apps (see links below)
that try to cash in by sending expensive SMS messages. This is
different.
In this case, the money is being generated after spam
e-mails are sent from Yahoo Mail servers on Android devices. A closer
look at the e-mails' header information shows all the messages come from
compromised Yahoo! accounts. Furthermore, they are also stamped with
the "Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android" signature.
As such, Zink
believes a cybercriminal has developed a new piece of malware that can
access Yahoo Mail accounts on Android devices and send spam messages
from them. Since this is happening on a large scale, it follows the
perpetrator has also linked the Android devices together to create a
spam botnet, a technique often used when trying to monetize spam; it's
all about volume, volume, volume.
Since Yahoo provides the
originating IP address for the e-mails, Zink was able to list the
countries from where the spam is being sent: Asia, Eastern Europe, the
Middle East, and South America. More specifically, the e-mails Zink got
his hands on came from Chile, Indonesia, Lebanon, Oman, Philippines,
Russia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Ukraine, and Venezuela.
Most of
these countries are in the developing world, and so the Microsoft
engineer argues that users likely tried to download pirated versions of
apps to avoid paying. Alternatively, they were tricked into downloading a
fake version of the Yahoo! Mail app. Either way, it's unlikely they
used the official Google Play store.
Android lets you download and
install apps from anywhere. Please only install apps from Google Play
unless you are absolutely certain you know who wrote the software you
want to install. Fighting malware isn't just the responsibility of
security firms: you can help by being smart about what you install.

TV BROADCASTING OUTFIT Sky has declared plans to bring Sky Go to Os 4.0 Ice Lotion Food gadgets by the end of the month, just in here we are at the rollout of Os 4.1 Jam Vegetable.

This is best part about it for clients who have already made the leap to Os 4.0, as Sky said that the app will be suitable with the HTC Wish S, Wish HD, Amazing S, Feeling, Feeling XE, New samsung Universe S, Universe Observe, Universe Nexus, Universe S2 and, of course, the Universe S3.

However, it's not such best part about it for those looking to update to Os 4.1 Jam Vegetable, as the app won't work with Google next mobile managing system.

Despite Sky typically moving out new functions to IOS first, owners of Os 4.0 Ice Lotion Food operated gadgets will also get access to Sky Go's new on-demand functions, allowing users' to get up with reveals while on the go.

"With the huge and ever-growing reputation of Os gadgets in the UK it's amazing to make on-demand content from Sky Films and Sky Enjoyment available to Sky clients for at the first try," said Mom Knill, product home of Sky Go.

"This update means clients can enjoy some of the most popular reveals such as Sky Atlantic's Mad Men, Veep and thousands of the newest Artist blockbusters, whenever matches them.

"We wish this update to the assistance offers extra versatility to Os clients and the new option of on-demand watching makes a better experience for all Sky clients across all systems."

It's still ambiguous when the Sky Go tv catch-up assistance will be coming to the Iphone and Ipad, and Sky was not available for thoughts at plenty of duration of writing.

Monday, July 2, 2012

The Google Android platform has extended its lead in the US
smartphone market while Apple increased its market share to nearly a
third in March in May, a survey shows.
Android accounted for 50.9 per cent of all smartphones used in the US
during the three-month average period, according to the comScore survey.
Apple's iPhone scored 31.9 per cent of the market, up from 30.2 per cent in the prior three-month period.
The survey comes amid intense competition and legal fights over patents in the smartphone market.
A judge in California last week granted Apple's request for an
injunction blocking US sales of Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphones made in
collaboration with Google to challenge the iPhone. Additional patent
cases are pending in other courts.
ComScore on Monday said nearly 110 million people in the US owned
smartphones during the three months ending in May, up five per cent from
February.
The survey showed continued bad news for Research in Motion's
BlackBerry, which saw its platform share fall to 11.4 per cent from 13.4
per cent.

Microsoft's share edged up slightly to 4.0 per cent from 3.9 per cent.
Among all mobile phones, Korean-based Samsung remained the top maker
with 25.7 per cent of the US market. Second was fellow Korean LG with
19.1 per cent, while Apple was third with 15 per cent.
Android and iPhone smartphones accounted for slightly more than 90 per
cent of US smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2011,
industry-tracker NPD Group reported earlier this year.
A recent survey by ABI Research found that Samsung and Apple have
captured more than half the global market for smartphones and over 90
per cent of its profits.
ABI said Samsung delivered 43 million units in the quarter, to 35 million for Apple.